We’re not looking for charity, but how to help ourselves...
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price will meet with Prime Minister Theresa May today for the first time since he took the helm of the party. Political editor David Williamson reports...
NEW PLAID Cymru leader Adam Price wants a “new deal for a new Britain” which would see Wales gain tax and borrowing powers as part of a drive to create a more equal UK.
The Plaid leader’s visit to Downing St is likely to be seen through the prism of Brexit, with a knife-edge vote expected in the near future on any deal the PM can negotiate with the EU.
Mr Price insists the UK should stay in the single market – an idea which is anathema to Conservative Brexiteers – and he is also a strong supporter of a further referendum.
He said: “I think it’s safe to say that probably we’re unlikely to get agreement around the table on those matters, but it will be nevertheless an important opportunity for us to hear directly from the Prime Minister the latest thinking in terms of the UK Government’s position and how that could impact upon Wales.”
The UK is due to leave the EU on March 29 but Mr Price argues that “extending Article 50 to facilitate a ratification referendum is probably the most likely of all scenarios”.
His meeting comes just two days after Chancellor Philip Hammond used his Budget to raise the possibility of the Welsh Government gaining the power to borrow a further £300m in support of the proposed M4 relief road.
Mr Price wants “borrowing powers with no strings attached” and can also see a role for powers over corporation tax, VAT, and R&D tax relief in boosting Welsh prosperity.
He said: “There’s a discussion about giving us the tools to get on with the job. What we’re looking for there is not charity but how to help ourselves...
“While we’re in this British state we also want to have a conversation about a new deal for a new Britain which would be a more equal Britain which would have a genuine commitment to equity.”
Plaid Cymru has worked closely on Brexit with the SNP, the Liberal Democrats and the one Green MP. Representatives of these groupings last week met with EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier; Mr Price hopes to meet with UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn “very soon”.
The Carmarthen East and Dinefwr AM, who also represented the constituency as an MP before leaving Westminster to study at Harvard, wants Wales to have a much higher profile in UK politics.
He said: “We either haven’t appeared at all on the political landscape or we’ve been a tiny dot... I think that’s a bit of an indictment of the Welsh Labour Government...
“If you compare and contrast the position of Scotland and Northern Ireland, Nicola Sturgeon is one of the big political figures of our time...
“We would want to see Wales up there with parity of esteem, a Welsh First Minister seen as a political operator that had significance in these islands.”
Conservative Assembly leader Paul Davies has called for a Welsh election when Labour’s successor to Carwyn Jones is selected later this year on the grounds that leadership changes at the top of the parties in the Senedd mean it is time for the people to have their say.
Mr Price said the system for selecting a new First Minister opened up the potential for another election. There was initial deadlock in the Assembly in 2016 when the vote to confirm Mr Jones as First Minister was unexpectedly tied at 29-29.
He said: “We will be nominating myself as the First Minister candidate. There will therefore be a vote in the National Assembly...
“Of course, if it’s not possible to get a majority for either candidate then there will be a Welsh general election following that.”
He welcomed the opportunity to hold talks with Mrs May, saying: “Clearly we are in a time when it’s, I think, good to reach out... I think it’s important to take that opportunity because after all this is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to press our case for Wales and we’ll certainly be doing that...
“I’ve always approached political life in a way which maintains good relationships and builds relationships so you can have true dialogue with people. You often find you can disagree [but] you can find areas of common ground, sometimes unexpectedly so.”